Category: Writing

Last year I took on a 100 Day Writing Challenge. Now, I’m sharing some of my (slightly edited) results—the writing part of it—with you. Read more about how I (barely) completed the challenge and read on for day 89 of 100.

Day 89 Challenge: Discuss 3 tips or tools that small businesses (or blogs or solopreneurs*) should use in order to minimize the time they spend on social media, but still get disproportionate results. (250-300 words)

Social media for any business can be an all-consuming job. That’s why businesses big and small are hiring people to manage their social media—eff that noise. You’re a small business (or a small one-person) you don’t need to can’t hire anyone else. You also can’t go spending more time online to get results. Here’s how to minimize time on social media.

What you’ll say: Develop a content strategy plan. It could be as simple as setting up what days you’ll post on different networks, or what content you’ll promote throughout the week. For example, maybe you want to post to Facebook twice a week, to Instagram three times a week and to tweet every day during the week. Having a simple plan written down will make it easier to quickly accomplish your social media tasks.

When you’ll say it: Now that you know what you want to say, use a tool like TweetDeck, HootSuite, Buffer or Klout to schedule and manage (most of) your posts. That’s right. Schedule your posts in advance. Then, your social media works hard during the week, while you work hard on every other little thing to keep your business going during the week.

How you’ll turn up the volume: Finally, download those social media apps to your phone or tablet. Then, next time you’re waiting in line, BAM, you’re also online… social media liking, retweeting and sharing like a pro.

These quick tips and tools will help you and your small business (or blog or solo-gig) get the most from social media, with less time than you ever imagined. Now tell me, what other tools or tips do you use that help you get the most from your time AND from social media.

*This addition is mine. I think these tips can work GREAT for a small biz, but I also think they can work for my blogging friends & the creative entrepreneurs I know and love.

If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram, you know I go by “@CopyKelly.” The reason? After originally signing up with a firstname-lastname username, I realized I should have something more durable, in case I get married and want to change my name. Since I’m a copywriter, and I totally l-o-v-e, love alliteration, I went with “CopyKelly.” Now, as a writer, it should come as no surprise that I also love words. So, lovely readers of my words, here are a few of my favorite reads about words that I came across this week.

Have you ever embarked on a challenge, only to find that it took you more time, or effort, or money to complete?

I have.

In 2014, a friend and business owner, Scott, posted a 100-day writing challenge that his company, EmployTown, was hosting. Employtown is a reverse job board website where employers can bid on prospects. The writing challenge is one of Scott’s many ongoing social media campaigns, and I was thrilled to be a part.

“100 days of writing?” I thought to myself.

“I can totally handle that. I write everyday.”

I knew I could manage it all. Scott assured me it was OK if I missed a day or two. And I figured that was all I would miss. But that idea of grandeur was quickly squashed. Not only did it take me more than 100 days, it took me more than 1 year to finish that 100-day writing challenge.

So, Kelly… what you’re saying is you failed?

No. Failing would have been not completing the writing challenge at all. Failing would have been missing weeks at a time and not getting back in the writing game. Failing would have been defeat. And I don’t do defeat.

Here’s how to not fail… (aka, don’t do these things that I did when trying to complete my challenge.)

Don’t not sit down to tackle your challenge at the same time every day. Do set aside time to complete your daily challenge everyday. Pro tip: I found if you say you’ll do it first thing, you’ll do it first thing. And if you don’t, you still have all day to do it.

Don’t make excuses. Do make time. See previous note.

Don’t assume it’ll be easy. Even if you’re a personal trainer completing a fitness challenge, you’ll still need to put forth the effort to complete your challenge.

Don’t be too hard on yourself. If you’re on vacation, be on vacation. Just don’t let those days off spiral into an uncontrollable number of days off.

I’ll be sharing some of my favorite writings from the 100-day writing challenge here soon. There are many posts about writing, marketing, social media and a lot of the other topics I deal with in my everyday life as a copywriter. AND. Now that I’ve tackled one writing challenge, I’m totally game for another one. Send ’em my way if you got em.

Did you know that we are smack dab in the middle of Universal Letter Writing week? It’s true. The second week in January (January 8-14) traditionally marks this wordy week. It seems like there is a day or a week or a month to celebrate almost everything, so why not take a few days to write some letters.

I don’t know about you, but I do love to get real, actual physical letters in the mail. You know, the kind you have to go to the mailbox to get. The kind you get to tear open and read as many times as you wish.

I must admit I’m a few days behind in this year’s Letter Writing Week, but I am planning on sending some real, actual letters by the end of the week (more by the end of the month.) If you’re thinking you would like to as well, here are a few prompts to get you going.

Now, sit down with a nice pen and some paper—or at your keyboard—and get to writing letters. You just never know how receiving a letter might change someone’s day. And, you might be surprised how sending one can be just as gratifying too.

Yesterday I mentioned my top 5 reasons to journal. And well, that bonus #6 item got me scouring the internet for my next journal.* So, here are six of my top finds to fill with your greatest, or worst, memories, ideas and thoughts. (PS. These make great gifts too!)

Sometimes when I blog or journal, I follow daily writing prompts, but I also love the idea of following one journal prompt to fill an entire journal. I brainstormed some that were really awful, some that might be good enough to turn into books and some just fun ones. So, above, some journals to fill. And below, some journal prompts to fill them with:

In the drawers of my childhood desk there must be 8 to a dozen journals. All started. All unfilled. I never seemed to stick with it. It’s not because I don’t like writing, obviously. I just never seemed to keep it going. Sometimes, journaling felt odd to me. Odd because those private thoughts were being written down to be read by whom someday? Your kids? Your spouse? Your grandkids? Who knows.

But the more I think about it, the more I think there are reasons to journal, so I started journaling again. Yes, in a real notebook. With a real pen. Actual paper. Not just this blog thing. So, why journal? Here are my reasons:

It’s a great way to remember things—meals, outfits, activities, details. Whatever you want to remember. Write it down.

It’s the perfect way to “talk” things through with yourself. And if you listen hard enough, you might just answer yourself too.

It can be therapeutic. When you’re going through something difficult, it’s sometimes easier to write the words than say the words that come to mind.

It’s preserving your life. So what if your kids or grandkids read it someday. They might learn more about your family than you could ever tell them. Or that you could even remember.

It can be funny. If you did keep a journal when you were a kid, go back and have a read and you’re sure to have a laugh. The things that you’re worried about now (and were worried about then) might seem silly in the future.

Bonus! You get to get pretty new journals and notebooks and fill them up with words and thoughts and ideas. And when you finish one, you get another one. See where this is going?

OK. So, do you journal? What are your reasons for journaling? (or not journaling?) Give ’em to me.